February 4, 2013
Buhler continues growth with constant net profit in fiscal 2012
Press Release
The B？？hler Technology Group has increased both its order intake by an increase of 5% and its turnover by an increase of 13%, with acquisitions accounting for the rise in order intake.
As a result of the substantial investments made by the Group for securing its long-term future, the EBIT margin declined to 7.3% from last year. Its net profit of CHF 161 million was at the level of a year ago. For the current fiscal year, B？？hler expects sales revenues at the same level as 2012 and a return to a double-digit EBIT margin.
Its order intake for fiscal 2012 increased by 5% to CHF 2345 million; in organic terms, it was at the level of a year ago. Of the three divisions, Grain Processing as well as Food Processing booked somewhat higher orders, whereas the orders received by the Advanced Materials division were consolidated at the record level of the previous years.
With 12% fewer orders received, Europe was especially disappointing. On the other hand, North America grew sharply by an increase of 44%. The plus side also includes the markets in China by an increase of 13% and the Middle East/Africa by an increase of 7%. In all, the orders received from emerging countries thus for the first time exceeded 50% of the Group''s total volume.
Turnover (sales revenue) rose by 13% to CHF 2409 million; adjusted for acquisitions, it exceeded the value of the previous year by 5%. The sharpest rise in sales was achieved by the Advanced Materials division by an increase of 47% and was mainly driven by acquisitions. Grain Processing boosted its sales on a purely organic basis by 7%, whereas the revenue of Food Processing was 3% below the value of a year ago.
In order to secure its long-term future, B？？hler invested heavily in markets, its global service network, innovations, and new fields of application. As B？？hler is convinced that innovation is and will remain its core growth engine, research and development spending rose substantially and for the first time exceeded CHF 100 million or more than four percentage points of turnover. In conjunction with higher restructuring costs for integrating new acquisitions, this resulted in a lower EBIT margin of 7.3% in the year under review compared to 2011. B？？hler expects the investments in the future mentioned above to pay off in the coming years in the form of double-digit margins. The net profit remained at an encouragingly constant level of CHF 161 million in comparison to a year ago.
For 2013, the Group''s turnover is expected to reach about the level of the previous year. Overall, the emerging economies stand to become the main pillar of business in terms of both sales revenue and earnings. In view of the recent investments made and the absence of extraordinary charges, the Executive Board expects the EBIT margin to return to a double-digit figure.